Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In yet another attack on the reptile community, today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will look to list the "Big 9" from the USGS survey published in October on the Lacey Act as injurious species:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose to list the Burmese python and eight other large constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems as "injurious wildlife" under the Lacey Act.

Salazar made the announcement at the Port of New York, which serves as the largest point of entry in the nation for imports of wildlife and wildlife products. Last year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors at John F. Kennedy International Airport handled more than 27, 000 separate wildlife shipments valued at more than $1 billion, or 16 percent of all U.S. wildlife imports.

The proposal, which will be open to public comment before Salazar makes a final decision, would prohibit importation and interstate transportation of the animals.

"The Burmese python and these other alien snakes are destroying some of our nation’s most treasured – and most fragile – ecosystems," Salazar said. "The Interior Department and states such as Florida are taking swift and common sense action to control and eliminate the populations of these snakes, but it is an uphill battle in ecosystems where they have no natural predators. If we are going to succeed, we must shut down the importation of the snakes and end the interstate commerce and transportation of them."

This allows us yet another opportunity to refute the bad science involved with both HR2811 and S373. The FWS will publish the proposed rule change in the federal register in early February.

Once it's published, the public will have sixty days to offer comment, after which the waiting game begins again.

As soon as the comment period opens, we'll let you know what action to take, and where.

Even now, it's not too late -- or too early! -- to make calls, reach out to your senators and representatives. Let them know this proposal is based on bad science, that you're part of the reptile community and that you vote!
USF&W to add "Big 9" to Lacey Act

-----
Cindy Steinle
phfaust@pethobbyist.com
PHFaust
Visit kingsnake on Facebook!
Follow Kingsnake on Twitter!

I love keeping snakes and lizards and think that they can make awesome pets, and I'm totally for it. I agree that responsible people should be able to enjoy exotic pets, and that trading interstate should be legal. That said, I think there are some things that are important to consider about being responsible for the eco systems at large.

Burmese pythons in the Everglades have been "eating gray squirrels, possums, black rats, and house wrens. Perhaps even more worrying, the pythons may be preying on native mangrove fox squirrels and wood storks. And they could be competing with the eastern indigo snake for both prey and space. The eastern indigo snake is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" (National Geographic)

There are no natural predators to the Burmese Python in Florida, or anywhere in the US, so what will help to keep their population down before they eat all of those native species?

While there are already so many captive bred Burmese Pythons in the US, why isn't the focus on captive breeding? These animals will likely be healthier and present fewer problems. At the same time we could help conserve the Burmese population in Asia (where they actually belong). The same should really apply to all reptiles. Wild collection for the pet trade is seriously destroying natural populations, which is bad not only for that animal, but also impacts the rest of the eco system.

Perhaps a permit system would help prevent idiots who are unprepared for the care of a more challenging reptile from obtaining one from their local Pet Co or responsible breeder. It would be those people who do not want to take care of it after it reaches 10 feet and then decide to let it go in the Everglades or are unlucky enough to be killed by it because they don't know what they are doing.

Perhaps Lacey Act isn't the worst idea in the world, just in need of some consideration for those people who are responsible pet owners.